I feel so blessed by the 20 people who took a chance and joined us in our “alpha” test of the Let’s Go Together course. After almost three years of having to teach only through Zoom, it was so meaningful to me to actually be with people in the same room. More than that, I enjoyed seeing people freed up to love their neighbors. So many have felt bound up by what they were taught about Christianity.
One person walked up after one session and asked, “What about that verse that says you have to walk the narrow path?” I responded that seeing and honoring all our neighbors as human beings is a very narrow path. She smiled and asked, “Oh, it can mean that?” I said, “I am only offering one plausible interpretation.” She said, “That text has haunted me all my life. I like your interpretation better.”
Another said that she was taught that, to be a good Christian, you have to “be a fisher of men, you know, convert people to Christianity.” I said that “Rome claimed ownership of the water and what was in it. So in the Christian scriptures the water is a metaphor for Romans claiming ownership of people. To take people out of the water is to free them from the terrible impact of Roman occupation.” She said, “You mean it’s about freeing people not converting them?” I said, “Yes.”
I love it when people are freed up to love themselves and their neighbor.
I have learned a lot in this alpha test. It feels so good to be learning with and from people. Our team at Paths to Understanding will take some time to evaluate all the feedback we received and make the course even better next year. The next step for our first group of participants will be to gather ideas on how to form a multi-faith partnership with other local groups in Burlington.
Some notes about the course:
This course prepares Christians for partnership with diverse wisdom traditions. This course is intended to help Christians:
- Prepare to relate to people of diverse wisdom traditions
- Study scripture and our tradition to see what it means to be faithful in a multi-religious world
- Learn more about people of other traditions
- See the deep strategy within the Christian tradition for how to respond in times of fear and division
- Discover and learn to express our own “Why” for working in mutual relationship with people from diverse traditions